'They shall griow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.' It is late October, and the inhabitantsof the Cathedral town of Lafferton are getting ready for the Remembrance Day parade. This year will be grander than usual because of a VIP visitor. Leonard Cramm is preparing himself, as he always does; his grandfather was a hero of the First World War, his father a hero of the Battle of Britain. But then a couple walking their dogs go into a copse on the outskirts of the town, and one of them breaks an ankle after falling over something deep in the undergrowth. Remembrance takes on a different aspect, and Simon Serrailler - recently promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent - faces a terrifying situation, in which a great many lives are threatened, not least his own.